Wire fastener and stretcher.



F. S. DUNHAM.

WIRE FASTENER AND STRETC'HER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-I8, m3.

1,142,555. I v Patented June 8,1915.

WITNESSES: mam/r01; QZAQW M. Ma. FSDun/zam. I

I ,1" a Slfi' W l A Arman/Fr THE NORRIS PETERS CO. PHOTD-LITHO. WASHINGTON, D. c.

FLOYD S. DUNI-IAIVI, OF PECULIAR, MISSOURI.

FASTENER AND STRETCHER.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, FLOYD S. DUNHAM, a

, citizen of the United States, residing at Peculiar, in the county of Cass and State of Missouri, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Fasteners and Stretchers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thls specification.

- My invention relates toacomblned wire fastener and stretcher, and more part1cu larly to a device of that character adapted for use in. connection. with cement fence wires may be applied to a post and tightened I A at the time the wires are placed, or when they have become slack after the original placement.

In accomplishing this object I have provided improved details of structure, the pre ferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure I is a perspectlve view of a fence post equipped with my improvements. Fig.

II is a central, longitudinal section of a portion of the post containing .one of the 1 sectional view of a post containing a modified form of the attachinghook.

l designates a cement fence post having a fastening and stretching members. Fig. III is a cross-section on the line IIIII I, Fig. II. Fig. IV is a detail perspective view of a fastener block. Fig. V is a cross- Referring; more in detail to the parts longitudinal groove 2 in one of its faces i and having fastener blocks 3 contained Specification of Letters Patent.

cated within the barrel chamber 5, and hav ing a washer 13 adapted for bearing against the seat 6, and a nut 14: for adjusting the hook when a fence wire is to be tightened or loosened; the channel 10 being prefer- Patented June 8, 1915.. Application field August 18, 1913. Serial No. 785,237.

ably square in orderthat the double strand L I of the hook may be drawninto the channel after being attached to the fence wire and held against turning when the wire is tightened, and thereby obviate. possible damage to the wire. V

While the hooks 11 might be applied directly toithev fence-wires, I prefer to mount V arod 16 through a number of the hooks, so that it may overlie a number of fence wires 17 that may be located between adjacent g hooks, and so that when two or more of the hooks are tightened to draw the rod inwardly toward the base of the post groove,

all of the wires that are locatedbeneath the rod are drawn into the groove and not only stretched but also held firmly in place by being clamped against the edges of the groove and under the rod.

I prefer to use rods having corrugated fence wires may be held in spaced relation, and thereby obviate: spreadingfof the wire by stock confined by the fence.

It is apparent that with this construction and arrangement, any number of fence wires may berun beneath the rod 16 and not only stretched but also held firmly in position by meansof a less number attaching hooks.

or roughened surfaces, in order that the In using the improvements,cement posts i I may be formed inmolds with the fastener blocks embedded therein, so that the recessed faces of'the'post grooves 2.

I faces of the blocksare continuous with the -1 O0 When a post, with the blocks contained therein, is in position, fence wires may be strung therealong, a rod, having hooks 11 thereon, placed against theportions of the wires that overlie the fence groove, and the shanks of the hooks projected into the block apertures 10, so that washers and nuts may be applied to the threaded ends of the shanks. The nuts are then tightened to draw the hooks inwardly so that the fence wires will be drawn into the recesses in the heads of the blocks, and the wires stretched until they are suiiiciently taut.

W hen the ends of the wires are anchored, all. of the wires may be stretched simultaneously by manipulation of the hooks on one or more posts, and the wires held firmly in their stretched condition, because of the clamping action of the wires against the edges of the post grooves and beneath the attaching rods.

hould one of the wires break, the rod on an adjacent post may be loosened to provide sufficient slack to connect the broken ends, and the wires again tightened by manipulation of the hooks, or should any of the wires become slack, the hooks may be drawn farther into the block apertures, to pull the wires into a post groove and thereby take up the slack.

It is apparent that, should the fence wires be slack after the attaching rod has been drawn against the base of the recess in the block, the rod may be removed and the hooks attached directly to the fence wires as shown in Fig. 5, so that the latter may be drawn into the apertures in the blocks and, when a washer is placed over the ends of the block, into the chamber of the block barrel. It is also apparent that the nuts may be manipulated by means of an auger wrench, having a head that may be projected into the chamber in the block barrel and having a channel for receiving the end of the shank, and that the ends of the hook shanks may be cut off if they project sufficiently to cause possible injury to stock.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters-Fatent, is z- 1. The combination with a post, of a block embedded within said post, one end of said block comprising an open end barrel, having an interior seat, and the other end comprising recess forming wings, the body of said block having an aperture connecting the in ner end of said barrelv with the recess formed by said Wings, a hook adapted for travel in said aperture and having a threaded shank projected into said barrel, and a nut on said shank adapted for bearing against said seat.

2. The combination with a fence post, of fastener blocks arranged transversely within the post and each comprising a recessed head and a chambered part, having a seat said and having an aperture extending from seat to the recessed portion of the block, a hook slidably mounted in the aperture in each of said blocks and having a threaded portion projected into the chambered part of the block, a nut on said threaded portion adapted to bear against said seat, and a single rod projected through all of said hooks within the recessed portions of said blocks, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a fence post, of blocks arranged transversely within said post and each having a central chamber provided with a square opening at one end, a hook slidably mounted in said square aperture and having a threaded shank projected. into said chamber, and a nut on said hook shank and inclosed in said chamber.

4. The combination with a fence post, of blocks arranged transversely within said post, and each having a grooved end, a chambered barrel and a square aperture communicating with said grooved end and chambered barrel, a wire fastening device comprising a rod having a threaded shank projecting into said chambered barrel, an offset, hooked portion having parallel sides slidably mounted in said square aperture, and a nut on said threaded shank and inclosed in said chamber.

5. The combination with a fence post having a longitudinal groove therein,of a plurality of blocks embedded in said post and extending transversely therethrough; each block comprising a recessed head registering with the longitudinal groove in the post, and a chambered shank opening from the opposite side of said post, and having a seat and an aperture extending from said seat to the recessed head, a wire fastening device comprising a rod having a threaded shank projecting into said chambered barrel, an offset hooked portion having parallel sides slidably mounted in said aperture, and a nut on said threaded shank and inclosed in said chamber.

6. The combination with a fence post, of a block embedded in and extending transversely through said post, and having a forked end and a central channel opening into the vertex of the forked end, a hook extending between the members of the forked end, and having a threaded shank extending into said block channel, and a nut on said threaded shank within said channel.

7. The combination with a fence post having a longitudinal groove therein, of a block extending transversely through said post, and having a grooved end registering with the post groove, and means for drawing a fence wire into the block groove.

8. A wire stretcher for fence posts, comprising a tubular body member adapted to be embedded in a fence post, and having an interior shoulder, an enlarged bifurcated end portion adapted to lie. flush with one face of the post and protect the edges thereof, a hook extending through said tubular body and adapted for drawing a fence wire over the ends of and into said bifurcated portion, a threaded shank for said hook, a washer on said shank adapted to rest on said interior shoulder, and a nut on said threaded shank, for the purpose set forth.

9. A wire stretcher for fence posts, comprising a tubular body having an enlarged bifurcated portion at one end and an outstanding flange at the other whereby the body is firmly anchored within the post, and means inclosed Within said tubular body for drawing a fence Wire into the bifurcated portion of the body, for the purpose set forth.

10. The combination with a fence post having a longitudinal groove, of a tubular body member embedded transversely within said post, and having an enlarged bifurcopies of this patent may be obtained for cated end portion exposed from one face of the post and adaptedto register with the longitudinal groove and an outstanding flange at the opposite end of said body and lying flush with the opposite face of the post, a hook bolt in said tubular body adapted for drawing a fence Wire into said bifurcated end portion, and a nut for tightening FLOYD s. DUNHAM.

Witnessesz v ARTHUR W. OArs, g LETA E. COATS.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 13. 0. 

